James l



APPLICATION FILED OCT-18. I920.

Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

I venziu":

' part of this specification: 1 I y '7 V,

a note sheet in accordance with one embodiment of the 1n-' UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

ra s-1.. soo'r'r, or ivrnnnounnn, vic'ronm, AUSTRALIA.

Toall whom it mag concern: r

Be it known that 1, JAM S L vnsnv Soo'r'r, asubject of the King-of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of the postal; district of Sunshine, in'theshire of Braybrook,

suburb of the city of Melbourne, in the county'of'Bourke, State of Victoria, Conimonwealth of Australia, (whosepost-oflice address is Forrest Street, in'the said postal district of Sunshme) have invented certain new and. useful Improvements relating to Note Sheets for Player Pianos and the like,

of which the following. is a specification.

This invention relates to perforated note sheets for mechanically operated pianos, or-

gans and the. like and its object isto provide means whereby an instrumental accompaniment may be played withsuch pianos and the like through the medium of {written music. printed or otherwise inscribed on the a mannerthat the accompanist may easily interpret the transcript as it is conveniently displayed before him by theunrolling of the note-sheet. 4 J

vReferring to the drawings which, form Figure 1 shows part. of

vention. I v p v Figure 2showsportion of a note sheet in accordance with another embodiment, which is: referred to that seen in Figure 1.

igure3 shows portion of a note sheet, in accordance with a" further embodiment which is preferred to either ofthe forms seen in Fi' ruresl and 2. I 1

iigure 4 is -a diagrammatic perspective View showing a note sheetof the type seen in Figure. 3 in use in 'combinationwith an inclined' mirror which reflects the written music in a horizontal position for reading.

Figure" 5 is a vertical sectional view; taken through the front portion of aplayer piano piano is 'alsoshown; I H

Figure 6 ma front view of the bracket and mirror seen in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a front view on a reduced scale of a player piano showing the invention in use in itspreferred form.

. In accordance withtheembodiment seen ,no'rn srrnn'r iron PLAY R PIANOS AND THE LIKE.

Figure 1 the'note sheet 2 has printed or H .Specification was 1 atent. P t t -Q 2g Application filed 0ctober18, 1920. Serial no. 417,549.

inscribed on its front face to the right of i the note perforations 3 and in a horizontal position a series of bars or passages of music indicated at f and providing the written bars or passages of the accompaniment to be played. These bars or passages are so arranged in relation to the note perforations that they are displayed to the accompanist by the unrolling of the sheet at the proper time to enable himto render the accompani- 4 ment in harmony or accord with the piece played by the piano or the like. In other 'words each of the printed bars or passages dis arranged opposite or in horizontalalignment with the corresponding bar orpassage.

represented bythe note perforations. With thisembodiment of the invention the accompanist is located to the right of the operator of the plane or thelike or mother convenient position to read the printed accompaniment as the horizontalbars or passages are displayed before him by the unwindingof the note sheet. It will be evident that each accompanist'prior to the corresponding note E perforations reaching the tracker bar 5 of the tracker bar simultaneously with thecommencement of the corresponding note bars or passages. 1

In the embodiment seen'inzFigure 2 the perforated written accompaniment is arranged on a continuous staff 6 extending longitudinally of the note sheet at the right hand side thereof, the notes and other musical-signs bein yarran ed as shownfor readin ref-';

erab-Iyfrom the right hand edge ofithe note sheet. It will be also seen that the written notes are arranged opposite or in horizontal alignment with the leading end .of the corresponding note perforations, the spaces between consecutive notes on' the staff .6 being extended" in accordance with the length. of. the corresponding note; perforations so thatthe corresponding notes of the mechanically operated instrument and the I accompanying instrument may be rendered ing or accompanying note perforations itogetheror'in synchronism as the: printed I reach the trackerbar, The written notes of;

80 .lwritten bar or passageis displayed to the of approximately forty-five degrees.

the accompaniment are thus successively displayed on a continuous staff running parallel to the length of the sheet, the accompanist standing to the right of the note sheet or in other suitable position so that the printed notes may be conveniently read as the 'note sheet unwinds.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in Figures 3 to 7 the written accompaniment is printed or inscribed on a continuous stafi' '7 extending longitudinally of the note sheet and at the right thereof. It will be observed however that the notes and other musical signs are arranged in a reverse or back to front position and are also inverted as regards the arrangement of the written notes seen in Figure 2. That is to say the top line of the staff is disposed to the right and the bottom line of the staff to the left instead of the Figure 2.

In combination with the note sheet seen inFigure 3 I employ a reflecting medium in the form ofa mirror 8 which is arranged in an inclined position as seen in Fig'iires i, 6, and 7, preferably at an a ili ile is inclined mirror is disposed as near as possiopposite arrangement seen in ble to the side of the note sheet bearing the written music so that, as the note sheet unwinds, the printed accompanlment 1S reflected in the mirror and presented to the accompanist in a continuous horizontal line moving from right to left as indicated by the horizontal arrow in Figure at, the other arrow in this figure indicating the direction of movement of the "note sheet.

lVith this preferred embodiment of the invention, the accompanist is located in convenient position to observe in the mirror the reflection of the music as itappears to move horizontally with the notes in upright or normal position to be played at the proper time in synchronism with the corresponding or accompanying notes of the piano or the-hke. i

The mirror 8 may be mounted as seen in "Figures 5 and 6 upon a bracket 9 attached to the front 11 of the piano or the like. Thls bracket preferably comprises an inner 'or rear member -12 and an outer or front member 13 connected by a bridge or top member 14L which passes over the lower edge 15 of the usual note sheetop'ening in the front of the piano or the like.

Thebracket is held in position by a clamping plate 16 which is disposed between the the felt pad may be pressed against the front of the piano without rotation of the clamping plate with its screw.

The bracket 9 also carries a socket 21 through which is a vertical hole to accommodate a supporting stem 22 which may be attached either fixedly or adjustably to a mirror frame 23 carrying the inclined mirror 8. In Figure 7 the mirror is shown fixed to the supporting stem'22 at the proper inclined attitude, whilst in Figure 6 the mirror is angularly adjustable and may be locked in any desired position by means of a locking screw carried on the upper end of the supporting stem. The mirror may also be vertically adjusted with the stem 22 by means of an adjusting screw 26 passing through the wall of the socket 21 and engaging the side of the stem 22.

Instead of the mirror arrangement above described I may employ a suitable arrange ment of prisms or lenses, or both adapted to project the image of the written accompaniment onto a ground mirror or reflector conveniently arranged for observation by the accompanist.

The invention provides a simple, effective and inexpensive means whereby a player piano or'the like may be accompanied ing played, whilst the accompaniment as usually understood in musical terms is provided by the note perforations. As in actual fact however either instrument undoubtedly accompanies the other, the term accompaniment as herein applied to the written music will be clearly understood and interpreted accordingly.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination of a note sheet having inscribed on its front surface a written instrumental accompaniment to the music rendered by the note perforations, said written accompaniment being arranged on a continuous staff extending longitudinally of the note sheet and having its written musical notes and signs reversed, and a refiector positioned to reflect said written accompaniment in a substantially horizontal line and in normal position to the accompanist as the note sheet unwinds.

2. The combination of a note sheet havin inscribed on its front surface a written instrumental accompaniment to the music having its Written musical notes and signs reversed, and an inclined mirror positioned adjacent the side of the note sheet bearing the Written accompaniment, for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of anote sheet having inscribed on its front surface a Written instrumental accompaniment to the music rendered by the note perforations, said Written accompaniment being arranged on a continuous staff extending longitudinally of the note. sheet to one side thereof and having its written musical notes and signs reversed, an inclined mirror mounted on the front of the piano and means for ad justing the position of said mirror, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of a note sheet having inscribed on its front surface a Written instrumental accompaniment to the music rendered by the note perforations, said Written accompaniment being arranged on a continuous stafi extending longitudinally of the note sheet and having its Written musical notes and signs reversed, abracket attached to the front of the piano, a mirror mounted on said bracket, means for adjusting the position of the bracket in relation to the note sheet, and means for adjusting the position of the mirror in relation to the bracket, for the purpose set forth.

5. The combinationof a note sheet having inscribed. on its front surface a written instrumental accompaniment to' the music rendered by the note perforations, said Written accompaniment being arranged on a continuous staff extending longitudinally of the note sheet near one side thereof and having its Written musical notes and signs reversed, an inclined mirror positioned adjacent the side of the note sheet bearing the Written accompaniment, a bracket mounted on the front of the piano to support the mirror, means for clamping said bracket in desired horizontal position, a socket carried by the bracket, a vertical stem passing through said socket and carrying the mirror, and means for adjusting said stem verticall within the socket.

6. he combination of a note sheet having inscribed on its front surface a written instrumental accompaniment'to the music rendered by the note perforations, said Written accompaniment being arranged on a continuous staff extending longitudinally of the note sheet near one side thereof and having its Written musical notes and signs reversed, an inclined mirror positioned adjacent the side of the note sheet bearing the Written accompaniment, a bracket mounted on the front of the piano to support the mirror, means for clamping said bracket in desired horizontal position, a socket carried by the bracket, a stem passing through said socket and carrying the mirror, means for adjusting said stem vertically within the socket,and means for angularly adjusting the mirror on said stem substantially as described.

7. A note sheet having inscribed on its front surface a Written instrumental accompaniment to the music rendered by the note perforations, said Written accompaniment being arranged on a continuous staff, ex-

one side thereof and having its written musical notes-and signs reversed.

VICTOR J. KELSON.

tending'longitudinally of the note sheet to 

